Hot as Lava
by deducingontheroof
Summary: Marco's POV of Hard as Obsidian. The main difference between Marco Bodt and most people- he's secretly in love with a famous YouTuber. He knows he'll never meet Jean, let alone date him, but it's worth a try. Everything changes when he meets Jean by chance in a game, and Marco learns the true meaning of yearning as he had to deal with being in love with his straight best friend.


"Okay! Ready now!" Thomas said, voice distorted as he tried to talk around a mouthful of food, "We're just waiting on you, Mina!"  
"Just a second!" Mina's voice echoed faintly. She was AFK, looking for her other set of headphones, "I could have sworn they were in the fridge!"  
Marco wasn't even questioning it at this point. Mina had habits that were more than a little strange. "Umm.. did you check under your bed? Behind your computer tower? In your coat closet? Did you leave them plugged into your iPod?""  
"Uhh… oh. They were with my iPod. Oops!" Mina laughed, "I could have sworn I moved them!"  
"Alright, are we good to play, then?" Thomas asked. Just then, Marco's room was flooded with loud music blaring from his phone.  
_'I might die 'cause they're comin' round_  
_Burn my house down to the ground'_  
"Hang on a sec, I'm getting a call." He grabbed his phone and answered it without checking the caller ID, "Hello?  
"Marco! So you finally answered your phone!"  
"Oh, Mom! Sorry, I was at work earlier," Marco apologized.  
"Oh, it's fine, I know you work hard," she dismissed, "So, how are things down in San Diego?"  
"Good, yeah, all good. It's really warm down here."  
"That's good! I wish I could say the same, but it's freezing right now in London! Oh, by the way, your cousin Hitch says hi!"  
"Tell her I say hi back! Listen, Mom, I'd love to talk, but it's after 11, and I have to work again tomorrow," he said regretfully. He felt a bit bad. Although he didn't directly lie, he just needed to get off the phone to go play Minecraft.  
"I understand, sweetie. I'll call you tomorrow, okay? Love you!"  
"Love you too, Mom. Bye now!" He hung up his phone and put his headphones back on.  
"Marco…" Mina began.  
"You put _'Endermen'_ as your ringtone," Thomas finished. Marco felt his face heat up.  
"Yeah, it's really catchy," he mumbled. Not to mention the fact that he had a huge crush on the creator of the parody song. He was a YouTuber called attackonminecraft, and Marco was a huge fan, both of his Minecraft videos and his parody songs.  
"I know you're a huge fan of the guy, but there's something you're not telling us," Thomas accused.  
"You're always watching his videos, when you're not listening to his songs or talking about him," Mina said.  
"Not to mention the fact that you run a tumblr blog about him," Thomas added.  
"The walls of your room are covered in screenshots, posters, and song lyrics."  
"You changed the backgrounds of your desktop, laptop, and phone to the picture of him you took at that one Survey Team event."  
"Beep! Beep!" they chirped in unison.  
"What do you mean?" Marco asked in confusion.  
"That was our gaydar going off, Marc," Mina told.  
"You've got it bad, bro," Thomas said.  
"Wh- what? No! Of course not!" Marco denied vehemently, "He's a YouTuber. I've never met him. I don't know him. He's famous, and way out of my league."  
"Suuuuurrrreee," Mina agreed sarcastically.  
"Are we going to play now?" Marco asked, desperate to change the subject.  
"No," Mina yawned, "It's already 11:30, and I have to work at 7. Another time, maybe."  
"Yeah, I'm out too. I've got a flight to catch," Thomas said.  
"Oh. Alright, then. Talk to you guys later."  
"Bye, Margay," Mina chirped before both of them hung up. Marco groaned and leaned back in his chair. After a short internal debate, he closed Minecraft and went to YouTube. attackonminecraft had posted a new video about a half hour ago, and Marco clicked it.  
The YouTuber's voice started playing in Marco's headphones, "Hey, what's up everyone? Jean here, and I'm doing a solo Hunger Games! I know I usually find someone to play with, whether it be Hanji or Connie or even fucking Jaeger, but today, I'll just see how I can do on my own."  
Marco watched all the way to the end of the video, paying close attention to Jean's strategy. He had been getting better at Hunger Games just from watching Jean's videos, although he hadn't played with his friends at all yet. When the video ended, Jean chalking up yet another victory, Marco closed YouTube and logged back into Minecraft. Time to play some Hunger Games.  
He headed onto the Nexus and chose a server at random. While waiting for the game to start, he decided to check who was in the game with him. He hit 'tab' and scanned the list.  
_ohmygodholycrapwhat_  
attackonminecraft was in the game. He was in a game with Jean, his role model and internet crush. Oh god.  
He was so freaked out that he didn't realize the game had started for a few seconds. He ran off towards the village, planning to grab the chests there before looping back around to the windmills.  
He made it to the village safely, and grabbed the chest from the well. Someone must have messed something up with the chest distribution, because there, in a single chest, was an iron helmet, iron leggings, and an iron axe. Well. He was set. He continued to look through chests, getting some more loot, including some food, a compass, and some decent armor. He began making his way through the trees, looping around to the windmill.  
When he got there, he placed a cake on the ground and quickly ate it, replenishing his hunger. Stupid 1.7 saturation. He hadn't even gone that far, and he still had lost six hunger bars.  
He turned towards the window and saw a player on top of a tree about 15 blocks from him. Wait. It was attackonminecraft. Oh god. Play it cool. He saw Jean take out his sword and almost panicked. Although it would be an honor to be killed by Jean, it would be even greater to play with him. Marco hastily typed in the chat.  
**frecklednotch: attackonminecraft wanna team?**  
He waited with bated breath for Jean's response. He knew that a lot of fans loved to troll, so the odds of teaming were low, but it was worth a shot.  
**attackonminecraft: sure**  
**attackonminecraft: dont troll plz**  
Marco grinned happily. He was teaming with Jean. This couldn't be real.  
**frecklednotch: lol okay**  
Jean hopped down from the tree, and Marco threw him a pair of extra chain leggings to replace his leather ones.  
**attackonminecraft: thanks**  
**frecklednotch: np**  
Marco quickly went into his inventory and reorganized, making sure he had food in his hotbar and that his axe and bow were easily accessible. He had 16 arrows, which would come in handy.  
**attackonminecraft: dont kill cleverglasses**  
**attackonminecraft: theyre with us**  
**frecklednotch: okay**  
Of course Marco knew who cleverglasses, or Hanji, was. He made a conscious effort to know everyone who Jean recorded with, especially the other members of the Survey Team, an elite group of Minecrafters that Jean was a part of. Hanji was genderfluid. Marco didn't care, though; he just liked to make sure that he was using the right pronouns. Anyways, they were the Survey Team's unofficial consultant on everything building. They were handling most of the building for the Survey Team server, which was being released in a couple of months. And they could be a bit eccentric, but usually in a good way.  
**cleverglasses: hiiiiiiiiiiii**  
Marco grinned. He could only assume that Hanji was a bit drunk. How Jean was able to record with them, he didn't know.  
He thought for a moment about their next move. Deathmatch would obviously be better sooner rather than later, and he just happened to have a compass. Time to kill some people.  
**frecklednotch: i have a compass btw**  
**frecklednotch: wanna track some people?**  
**attackonminecraft: good idea lead the way**  
Jean had just praised him. Goal achieved. Life complete.  
"Focus on the game, Marco," he muttered to himself. He quickly switched the compass into his hotbar and headed in the direction it was pointing, back towards the village he had been in before. As soon as he crossed into the village, the target of the compass changed. There must be two people nearby, He stopped directly in front of one of the houses, where the second guy had to be.  
**frecklednotch: theres a guy in there and another is nearby**  
**attackonminecraft: k you two go kill him ill watch for the other guy**  
**frecklednotch: okay i trust you**  
He wasn't just saying that because he was a huge fan, either. Usually, he wouldn't trust someone like that, but Jean was different. Marco genuinely felt like he could trust the other player to watch his back.  
Him and Hanji headed into the house, crouching so they could take him by surprise. They snuck up the stairs, and saw the guy. He was looking in a chest, not paying attention. Marco sprinted forwards, hitting the guy with his axe. When he tried to run, Hanji intercepted, and they ping ponged him back and forth until he was dead.  
The guy literally had nothing but a pair of iron boots. Just iron boots. No food, no weapon, just boots. Well, maybe Hanji picked something up, but all he got was boots.  
**c0m3atm3br0 was slain by attackonminecraft**  
So, Jean had taken out the other guy. That's good. At least now they didn't have to worry about getting snuck up on.  
Him and Hanji headed back outside, where they met up with Jean. Marco dropped his iron boots on the ground for Jean. Sure, he only had gold boots and would have liked the iron, but he couldn't resist giving them to Jean.  
**attackonminecraft: no dude theyre yours**  
**frecklednotch: but i already have better armor than you**  
**attackonminecraft: u gave me leggings already tho**  
**frecklednotch: just take them okay**  
**attackonminecraft: fine but take my chain ones**  
Marco accepted the offered boots, and they waited for Hanji to sort through their inventory. Apparently they had picked up way more than he had. Alright, what was next on the agenda?  
**frecklednotch: so what now**  
**cleverglasses: i got two compasses wanna split up and murder peeps?**  
**attackonminecraft: im down**  
**frecklednotch: okay everyone get a compass run in opposite directions**  
**attackonminecraft: when youre done go mid to regroup before dm**  
**frecklednotch: good luck**  
Marco picked a direction and ran straight until the compass stopped pointing at Jean and started pointing at his target, followed it into an area of the map he didn't know very well. There were clusters of ore all over the place, and… a volcano? The compass was directing him into it, which didn't look very safe, but this was the job Jean gave him, and he would deal with his target.  
**lalalaihateyouall was slain by attackonminecraft**  
Seeing that Jean had already dealt with his target was the final push needed. He headed into the volcano, crouching. The pathway was only one block wide, and it was directly above a pool of lava. If he fell, he was done.  
He spotted his target in the center of the volcano, using- an enchantment table? There was an enchantment table on this map?  
Still crouching, he snuck up behind the player and started chopping them with his axe. They tried to turn and fight, but Marco had the better position, and he managed to force them off the edge and into the lava.  
**swagalicious11037 tried to swim in lava to escape frecklednotch**  
Well, he had a level, so why not enchant? He thought for a moment about what to enchant, eventually deciding on his bow, because really, you could only get Power with one level, so there weren't any bad enchantments to get, and he was a good shot, so it was worth it. He enchanted it; Power, as expected.  
**cleverglasses was slain by MLGPro865**  
Well. That wasn't good. One of his allies was down, and they were heading into a 2v2 deathmatch. They weren't in the best situation, but they did have a good chance.  
The deathmatch timer started counting down, and Marco ate some food, ensuring that his hunger was full when they were teleported to spawn.  
He immediately found Jean, and they started sniping the other team. His Power bow proved to be invaluable, and the first of the other two guys was easily dispatched. The second one was slightly smarter, hiding behind a pillar where Marco couldn't hit him. Jean started heading forward, keeping the guy's attention as Marco snuck around to the other side, crouching. Jean rushed forward, and the guy ran right to him.  
And then there were two.  
**attackonminecraft: how do you wanna do this?**  
**frecklednotch: fistfight?**  
**attackonminecraft: lets do it**  
Marco tossed his armor on the ground behind him, along with his axe. This was Marco's chance to prove himself. If he could beat Jean, Hunger Games champion, in a one-on-one fistfight, his life would be complete.  
**frecklednotch: 3**  
**frecklednotch: 2**  
**frecklednotch: 1**  
**frecklednotch: go**  
Jean charged at him, punching wildly. They both got in some solid hits, though not enough to really do anything at first. They would both occasionally back up to regen before attacking again. Marco was getting a bit low when he saw Jean duck behind a pillar to eat. He quickly rounded the pillar and hit Jean from behind. He had been lower than Marco thought; it only took five hits to kill him.  
**First Place: frecklednotch**  
**Second Place: attackonminecraft**  
**Third Place: MLGPro865**  
**Map: Shiganshina by humanitysgreatest**  
"I won!" Marco exclaimed excitedly, "Oh my god, I won!"  
He took a huge sip of his coffee, finishing it off. He probably shouldn't have been drinking coffee at that time of night, but whatever.  
After a few moments debating internally, Marco started typing in the chat.  
**me-attackonminecraft: gg wanna play another round?**  
He didn't expect Jean to respond, but it was worth a try. He got up and quickly ran to his kitchen, pouring another cup of coffee (heavy on the cream and sugar with a sprinkle of chocolate shavings) and grabbing a muffin. When he returned to his computer, there was a message waiting for him.  
**attackonminecraft-me: sure wanna skype so its easier?**  
Oh god. Jean wanted to Skype with him. He was suddenly nervous, and, biting his muffin, he responded, hands shaking slightly.  
**me-attackonminecraft: okay same as username**  
He finished off his muffin as he waited for the Skype call. Soon enough, his computer pinged, and he answered the call.  
"Uh, is this frecklednotch from the Hunger Games?" Jean asked awkwardly, and Marco grinned. Nice to know he wasn't the only one bad at actual interaction.  
"Yeah! This is attackonminecraft, right?" He mentally facepalmed. He sounded like an idiot.  
"You can call me Jean, but yeah," Jean confirmed.  
"I'm Marco. Nice to meet you, Jean!" he introduced.  
"So, let's play some more. Let's go… 40?"  
"Alright! Let's do it!"  
"Oh, just so you know, I'm recording for my YouTube channel. Do you have one, so I can link you in the description?"  
"Oh… no, I don't," Marco told lamely, not sure what to say. I'm a huge fan? I'm in love with you? I'm a borderline stalker? "Wait- you're that attackonminecraft? My friends are huge fans!" Okay, wrong thing to say. Definitely the wrong thing to say.  
"What, and you're not?" Jean teased.  
"No, I am! I just- don't like- I mean," Fix this, Marco! "I don't spend a lot of time watching videos." You did not fix it. You made it worse. Whatever. Just play the game.  
The match went by fast, people dying surprisingly fast, considering the size of the map. During deathmatch, Marco told Jean to back off so he could regen, then when Jean was busy messing with his inventory, he snuck up behind the YouTuber and killed him. A dirty trick, but effective.  
"Oh, come on!" Jean exploded, "That was cheap! I was getting food, you jerk!"  
"You should have seen that coming, Jean!" he said, laughing at Jean's rage.  
"Dude, not cool!" Jean shouted, then took a deep breath, "Alright, I think I'll call it there before I destroy something. Make sure to leave a like if you enjoyed, and subscribe if you haven't already. See you all later."  
"Are you done playing, then?" Marco asked, disappointed. This had been the best game he had ever played, and he wasn't ready for it to end.  
"Hell no!" Jean exclaimed, startling him, " I was just closing the episode so I can post these as separate videos! I've got nothing to do for the next few hours and a title to win back!"  
Marco grinned. This was going to be fun.


End file.
